Tasaday man is now “Photovoltaic expert” under TESDA program
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES NEWS • 09:00 AM Fri Oct 16, 2020
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By:
Karl Mike Tabingo / TESDA-12
KORONADAL CITY – The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in the Soccsksargen region has trained a “Tasaday” man to become a photovoltaic expert under a government skills program.
Tasaday was once called “Lost Tribe of Tree Swinging People in the Philippines.”
Biking Mahayag has been trained and capacitated to assemble a solar-powered panel for his village.
Mahayag, 53 and one of the Tasadays scholars of TESDA-12 in Photovoltaic Installation training in Blit, Ned, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, is now an expert in his own right.
Mahayag has undergone 36 days of training together with 49 other Indigenous People in his area.
According to Mahayag, he was one of the Tasadays who saw how his tribe was uncovered in the 1980s and still vividly recalled how they lived before the modern world found them.
After 50 long years of "dark days and nights," Mahayag, as his surname suggests, can now experience light in his village because of the Project TALA o TESDA Alay ay Liwanag at Asenso, brought by TESDA 12 in the mountainous area of Blit, Ned, Lake Sebu.
TESDA instructor Jason Surriga affirmed the capacity of Mahayag that despite the lack of experience and education he was clearly determined to learn and to understand lectures given to them.
“I can now bring home the sulok (light bulb) for my family,” Mahayag said.
Sitio Tasaday is one of the farthest sitio in Lake Sebu that will take one to eight to 12 hours by foot from barangay proper. For decades, light and electricity were alien to them.
Mahayag is one of the 575 IPs in the region who will finish the 36 days of training on Photovoltaic Installation and will undergo an assessment to get his National Competency Certificate, a proof that Mahayag is no longer living in caves and secluded area but now envade the modern life. (KMT)